The WHO guideline value for arsenic in drinking water is 10 μg/L. Chronic exposure to arsenic in drinking water at levels above this threshold is MOST strongly associated with:
- A Blackfoot disease, arsenical keratosis, and skin cancer ✓
- B Methemoglobinemia in infants
- C Dental and skeletal fluorosis
- D Methaemoglobinaemia and blue baby syndrome
Correct answer: A. Blackfoot disease, arsenical keratosis, and skin cancer
Explanation
Chronic arsenic exposure from contaminated groundwater (endemic in West Bengal, Bangladesh, Bihar) causes a characteristic spectrum: arsenical melanosis and keratosis (rain-drop pigmentation, palmar/plantar keratosis), Bowen's disease (in-situ squamous cell carcinoma), and invasive skin cancers. Blackfoot disease (peripheral vascular disease causing gangrenous extremities) was described in Taiwan due to well water arsenic. Fluorosis and methemoglobinemia are caused by fluoride and nitrate, respectively, not arsenic.
Reference: Park's Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine, 27th ed.
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Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.